House bill would allow employers to speak

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

A bill that will allow employers to disclose information about former employees may pass the legislature this term. The bill was reported to the Senate for a first reading April 8.

House Bill 441 protects an employer from civil liability for issuing a truthful reference letter for an employee or former employee. The purpose of the bill is to both allow those employers immunity from lawsuits for providing the information, and to allow those using it to receive more data than many of them now can, said Rep. Norma Champion.

"I think it's important to absolve the businesses of liability in this matter," said Champion, a Republican from Springfield.

Champion's fellow Springfield delegates agreed. Mike Schilling, a Democrat, said the measure would allow for better dissemination of information between former employers and potential employers.

The bill provides that reference letters include the nature and character of the employee's service, the duration of employment and the reasons the employee was discharged or quit. Rep. Roy Holand, also a Springfield Republican, said the bill moved rapidly out of the House and was very popular with employers.

"In the world we live in, you can't say anything without legal risk. We hope that this bill makes it possible for employers to answer a few more questions than they can now," Holand said.

Nikki Sells, owner of Express Personnel, said the situation now is such that most employers will give out very minimal information on an employee.

"We have those that will only say whether or not an employee has worked for that company," Sells said.

That makes it difficult for companies like hers to identify workers with good work ethics and backgrounds.

"Right now, a lot of times an employee will look the same no matter what type of performance he or she turned in at the last job," Sells said.

The new measure, if it passes the Senate, will help both sides, and "be good for the good employees and hold others accountable for their past behaviors," Sells said.

An omnibus economic development bill that contained a laundry list of economic development measures is now dead for this session, Champion said. House Bill 753 included measures for a new small business tax incentive program, tax credits for the film industry and a reduction in the corporate franchise tax, among other issues. But its fiscal ramifications were in question, causing it to stall in the House, Champion said.

"It had too much in there that caused the fiscal note to shoot up on the thing," Champion said.

Both Schilling and Champion were somewhat suspicious of the incentives the bill provided the film industry[[In-content Ad]]